James Gunn’s new DCU plans to avoid the MCU’s most frustrating problem right from the jump

The MCU has had its fair share of problems, but in its early days, there weren’t too many major things that fans were critical of. However, there was one: the lack of R-rated projects. Fortunately, when it comes to building the DCU, James Gunn is breaking the trend before it even begins.

One of the biggest gripes that fans had with the MCU was the fact that it was crafted to appeal to a younger audience, and for that reason, there were no R-rated projects. While this has changed in the last few years, for more than a decade all of the MCU films were PG-13, which severely limited the stories that could be told with the incredible catalog of characters Marvel Studios has.

Well, don’t worry about that with the DCU, James Gunn is set to kick things off with the universe’s first R-rated project, and now we know that there’s plenty more to come.

Speaking to Collider, James Gunn who is the boss of DC Studios revealed that there are more R-rated movies in the works. He explained that the process of building this universe is just about telling the best stories, not appealing to a pre-determined rating.

“It’s not about testing out to see if this thing works. It’s just about telling a story. If a story is going to be R-rated, we’re totally okay with that. If it’s going to be PG, PG-13, or G, I don’t care—whatever is worthy of the story, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Taking off these restraints from the jump is the perfect way to ensure that fans get what they expect from the characters that they know and love.

It’s not just in the MCU, Marvel in general has mostly catered to a younger audience on the big screen over the years. Let’s not forget Sony’s Marvel universe, which has the perfect characters for a gritty dark story: Venom, and Morbius, but instead had to tone down the violence to appeal to a wider audience — which, in the case of Morbius, still didn’t work. In fact, Fox was the only studio with Marvel rights willing to take a shot at R-rated movies prior to 2024, and it seemed to work every time.

The good news for Marvel fans is that now that Deadpool & Wolverine has proven to be a major win for the studio, there’s likely going to be more R-rated MCU projects in the future. Hopefully, this includes Blade, which has been stuck in development hell, and who wouldn’t want more of Moon Knight with the training wheels taken off?

Seeing James Gunn take this stance for his DCU shouldn’t be all that surprising given his history inside of the comic franchise. The Suicide Squad, the first DC film crafted by Gunn, was R-rated and so was its spin-off series, Peacemaker. Both of these productions have seen major success due to their compelling stories and selection of characters that have gelled so perfectly on screen.

The DCU will begin with a gritty R-rated story when the animated series Creature Commandos lands on Max in December. The first episode of the series will premiere on Dec. 5, and new episodes are expected to follow weekly.